Rain
by Kaila.Nicole
Summary: He pulled out one of his smiles, the kind that make my heart skip a beat or two, even though I don’t tell him this, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Jean, you know I have to be happy today. I have all the time to be miserable tomorrow." JOTT.


**AN: This is what happens when you're wearing fuzzy socks, drinking cocoa and watching a Dane Cook comedy special. You get bored and look up X-Men Evolution videos on YouTube, thus resulting in a new fanfiction you hadn't even planned on, while you have two sitting on the backburner (my apologies to the JLU and Warehouse 13 fanfics I have sitting in My Documents, awaiting the finishing touches). **

**I've written several JOTT fics before, but they never made it onto Fanfiction. Obviously, this one has. Enjoy!**

_At night I dream that you were sent to me from heaven  
My life, it seems so lonely here without your presence  
You could change my everyday  
And I could never think of love without your name  
As you remain_

_Beautiful, like the summer rain to wash away the winter stain…_

_Beautiful – Trading Yesterday_

"Looking for someone?" His voice surprised me and I noticeably felt myself jump against the frame of the door. Outside, rain poured down in sheets, slanting against the currents of the wind. The driveway, normally bustling with teenagers, water hoses and sudsy cars was spotless, save for the muddy water running down in rivers to the street. Not exactly the farewell I'd hoped for.

"Not particularly. Just watching the day slip away."

"Sounds depressing." I rolled my eyes at his blunt words.

"_Some_ may consider it that way. I find it… peaceful."

"Letting water in the foyer so Logan can yell at us all at dinner? That's your definition of peaceful?" Finally fed up with his antics, I turned on my heel and snapped the door shut behind me.

"There. Happy?" He pulled out one of his smiles, the kind that make my heart skip a beat or two, even though I don't tell him this, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Jean, you know I have to be happy today. I have all the time to be miserable tomorrow, after all." A moment passed before I said anything and in that one moment, the words I had kept in the back of my mind was forced to the front in a giant sweep.

"I don't know how to function without you," I finally admitted, grateful to lean back into his grasp, "What if something happens to one of us?" My next sentence was on the tip of my tongue, being swirled around in my mouth like the terrible aftertaste of rotten food. _What if _it _happens_? Scott tightened his grip, pressing his lips to the crown of my head.

"You'll be all right. I have faith in you."

"What if that's not enough?" I pressed my forehead against his chest, listening and feeling his heart pound, matching my own quickened pulse. Tears sprang to my eyes and I kept my head down so he wouldn't see them. "What if no one can save me?"

"Shh," Scott ran his knuckles up and down my spine and I felt the panic well inside of him, "The Professor said that as long as the walls stayed up, that… _thing_ wouldn't be able to come out."

"I know." Lies were so much easier than the truth, I figured out that year, when Professor had finally showed me what his vision entailed. Watching your own body burst into flames and disappear into the depths of the universe wasn't exactly something you want to see before heading off into the world as an adult and it especially wasn't something you want to share with others. When the kids around the mansion badgered me with what Professor had seen, I lied and told them I was studying genetic information and proposing a bill to Congress for mutants. By the time I'd finished telling every single student this lie, I was starting to believe it myself. Still, I told Scott the truth, knowing he would get it out of me eventually. I spent that entire night- the night I told him the truth- trying to keep myself together as he fell apart next to me on my bed as a storm raged outside. "I know that, Scott. And yet, there's still all these what if's floating around on the edge of my mind."

"Just let them go," He whispered, his palm making small circles on my lower back, "Just let go." I obliged, closing my eyes and burrowing myself further into his embrace, and listened to the rain fall outside.

I could hear them from my place next to the creek, voices brushing past my ears as the raindrops fell from the clouded sky.

"When did it happen?" A panicked voice questioned.

"About three days ago. She's been out in the rain ever since. Can't seem to get her to come back in."

"Is… is she going to be okay?" He swallowed down a gulp of air.

"We dunno. Professor said he's running tests. You should talk to him first."

"No, I- I'll go see her. Thanks." The footsteps rushed towards me and if I had pressed my hand to the ground, I probably would have felt them rumble through the earth. But I just couldn't let go of the rain. "Jean?"

"Yes?" Scott moved to sit down next to me by the creek, cupping his hand over mine, cupping the hand that was catching the rain.

"I'm so sorry."

"Why?" He was blocking the rain now. I didn't want my hand warm. Terrible things happened when my hand was warm.

"I'm sorry you're going through this. I believe it wasn't your fault. It's whatever is inside you. That wasn't _you_, Jean." My eyes flickered over to his glasses and I tried to stare past the ruby quartz, but with no success. I could burn people with one gaze, but I couldn't look my boyfriend in the eyes. He must have noticed my uncomfortable squirming and released my hand in response.

"I don't even know who _I _am. I'm glad you came, though." I reveled in the feeling of the cool rain touching me once again, but still ached for Scott's skin on mine.

"How long have you been out here?"

"You heard Logan. Three days."

"Alone?" I nodded. He pressed his now rain-drenched forehead against my shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. His body shook, wracking with noiseless sobs, and I placed my other hand on his temple, brushing the locks of hair out of his face. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you wait until the second attack before coming here?" A ghost of a smile spread across my face and I glanced up at the sky, which released another drop that settled on the tip of my chin.

"I didn't have to tell you. You came, Scott, and that's what matters." I let the water pooling in my palm trickle back down into the creek.

"I can't lose you. You know that, right?" He picked his head up from my shoulder and turned my body towards his, his fingers gripping mine tightly. "Jean, if you were to vanish from my life-"

"I'm here," I slowly allowed my hand to cup his jaw, stroking my thumb lightly across his jaw line. "I'm here because you have faith in me. Because you have faith in us. It doesn't matter how long it took for me to tell you or how many times this will happen again. Those things do not matter. I have faith in that, Scott." I pressed my lips against his, reveling in the taste of his mouth, and reveling in the fact he hadn't caught on fire yet. The rest of the day slipped out from under us and soon it was gone, almost like the water in the creek as it sped past. I did not know what would happen the next day, the day after that, or even the next week and personally, at that moment, I did not want to know. I simply enjoyed feeling the rain fall around me.

**AN: I'm quite surprised. I managed to make it through this without killing someone. I'd consider that a win. Ha, ha. **


End file.
